1999 World Series recap

The Yankees seemingly had history at their advantage in search of their third World Championship in four years. The last World Series of the millennium featured the franchise with the most titles in the 20th century. They had started their late 1990s run by upsetting the Braves' hopes for a second consecutive crown in 1996.

The Braves, advancing from an arduous NLCS against the Mets, cooled off the Yankees for most of Game 1 on a chilly night at Turner Field. Greg Maddux, named an emergency starter when Tom Glavine suffered the flu, allowed three New York singles through seven innings. He held the lead on Chipper Jones' solo home run, Atlanta's only hit against Orlando Hernandez. A defensive move by manager Bobby Cox backfired when Brian Hunter committed two eighth-inning errors at first base to spur the rally for New York's ninth straight World Series game victory. Derek Jeter singled home the tying run to finish Maddux. Paul O'Neill followed with a two-run single off John Rocker and pinch-hitter Jim Leyritz walked with the bases loaded to complete a 4-1 win.

The All-Century Team introductions prior to Game 2 the following night were the only way to stop baseball's franchise of the century. Braves starter Kevin Millwood couldn't last through the third inning of a 7-2 rout in his first World Series appearance. New York had a seven-run lead by the fifth without a home run. David Cone needed only to escape first-inning trouble to maintain the Yankees' dominance in Atlanta.

With the Braves' only hope being a road comeback similar to the 1996 Yankees, Glavine shook off his influenza to start Game 3 at Yankee Stadium. Atlanta was determined to give its ailing starter some support, as Bret Boone doubled three times in the first four innings and every Braves starter had a hit by the fifth. The Yankees' World Series streak appeared finished until Chad Curtis homered in the bottom half of the inning. Tino Martinez and Chuck Knoblauch added home runs, the latter a game-tying shot off Brian Jordan's glove in the eighth. The 6-5 comeback was complete when Curtis homered off Mike Remlinger in the 10th, the first game-ending World Series homer since Joe Carter in 1993.

The deciding game belonged to Roger Clemens, who sought a trade to New York the previous winter in hopes of adding a championship to his 14-year career. The five-time Cy Young winner shut out Atlanta into the eighth inning for a 4-1 victory in the last game of the 20th Century. John Smoltz fanned 11 Yankees over seven innings, but Tino Martinez drove in two runs and Jorge Posada following with an RBI single in the third. Jim Leyritz contributed his obligatory World Series home run in the eighth. The Yankees' 25th World Championship marked the first back-to-back sweeps since the Bronx Bombers of 1938-39. The Braves became the first team to lose four World Series in one decade. In a year that saw manager Joe Torre battle prostate cancer and O'Neill, Scott Brosius and Luis Sojo lose their fathers, the history merely complemented the emotions.

Path to the World Series
ALCS: New York over Boston (4 games to 1)
NLCS: Atlanta over New York (4 games to 2)
ALDS: Boston over Cleveland (3 games to 2); New York over Texas (3 games to 0)
NLDS: New York over Arizona (3 games to 1); Atlanta over Houston (3 games to 1)

Managers: Joe Torre, NYY; Bobby Cox, ATL

MVP: Mariano Rivera, NYY: 4.2 IP, 1 W, 2 S, 1 BB, 3 SO